A/N: My writing style has been pissing me off lately. So I may take a bit off, do some finger excercises, ya know... Anywhat keep rootin' for me! I'm still working on it!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Thank You's: Elebereth-thanks bunches! I love your name...grrjealous Autumn Sun- thank you for the advice. I wasn't sure about that bit, becuz I don't like making up things when J.K.'s world is so complete.- Draco-go draco!! I'm working on it, see, see?!

Chapter 6:

Harry crept into his dormitory. He closed the door carefully, tiptoed across the floor, anything to not wake up his roommates. The very end bed, his, had the curtain closed around it. That made Harry pause, but he figured Ron had done it. There was always the possibility that there was someone else was in it, but Harry really doubted it. He opened the trunk at the end of his bed and pulled out some pajamas. He took them over to the window side of the bed where the only person who could see him was the boy in the opposite bed.

He pulled off the invisibility cloak, and changed from his robes into his pajamas. Then he crept back and slipped the cloak and robes into his trunk, and closed it quietly. He stood up for a moment, watching the light just beginning to brighten the room. Then he ducked between the bed curtains and tried to sleep until it was time to wake up before breakfast.

Draco sat at his desk, swinging his foot. He was still dressed, and felt comfortably rested. He had a little writing book open in front of him, and he was staring down at it. He didn't use very often, but now and again he found there was something in his life he wanted to write down, and try to figure out. He was studying what he had written.

It read:

'Last night when Harry kissed me, he didn't hold anything back. But this morning when I was going to walk him back to the Gryffindor rooms, he didn't want me too. He wasn't nervous. He just didn't want me to come at all. He had the same look in his eyes he got when we were talking on Tuesday. Maybe he was just worried about somebody seeing us. And maybe he's not as comfortable as I think yet. He's never gone with a guy before. I might have scared him. Or I might just be an experiment he's done with now. But I really love him. And I thought he maybe did too, so that last bit doesn't make any sense.

He said that I should put all the old spells into a book, and get it published. Anonymously of course, or I'd be lynched, but it was a good idea. It would be an interesting project. I'll have to think about it.'

At the bottom he had scrawled:

'I hope Hermione and Ron don't give him too much trouble today.'

Draco had tried to put his thoughts down as they came to him, and now he was trying to sort them out; what was good, and what was true from what wasn't. Mostly he was just stuck where he had been before. After all, how was he supposed to explain the way that Harry thought? Especially since he was in love with him. It would have to wait, if he wanted to know.

In the meantime, it was only half an hour until breakfast would first be served in the Great Hall. Draco decided to wait it out in the common room, maybe reading some more of his Stealthy Snitch. He returned the book to his hiding place and left the room.

Seamus' alarm clock went off inside the Gryffindor dorm, and Harry groaned as he rolled over and tried to ignore it. It wasn't possible. Hiding your face in the pillow only made the alarm seem louder. Harry heard other people moving throughout the dormitory, and he groaned again and pushed himself up. He opened the bed curtains. Seamus was blinking sleepily at the end of his bed, and Dean was standing next to him, and yelling about the alarm. Ron was stumbling through his own bed curtains across from Harry's, and Neville was stirring behind his. The usual morning routine.

Harry slid out of his bed, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. Ron was blinking groggily, but when he noticed Harry his jaw fell open. "Morning, Ron," said Harry quickly, heading for his trunk before Ron could really say anything.

After Ron and Harry had pulled their clothes out of their trunks, Ron pulled Harry back between their beds. "Where were you?" Ron whispered.

"What do you mean?" said Harry innocently, getting into his clothes.

Ron rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Harry. What were you doing?"

Harry turned to him. "Look, I'll tell you in a little while, all right?" Ron opened his mouth to say some more, but Harry cut him off. "If I tell you now, then I'll have to say twice 'cause Hermione will want to know. So I'll just tell you both at once. It's no big deal."

Ron frowned at him, but didn't press the point. They finished dressing, grabbed their work, and made their way out the dormitory. Down in the common room they waited for Hermione. Ginny came down the steps first, bouncing cheerfully on a Friday morning. "Hi Harry, hi Ron," she said brightly as she walked past them. Ron's head followed her and watched her leave the common room.

"Can you believe she's not going with Dean Thomas anymore?" Ron said disbelievingly. "I can't understand how she does that."

"Does what?" said Harry, looking at him.

"Changes boyfriends like that! That's twice now!" Ron said loudly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I thought you didn't like her going with Dean anyway," he said.

"It wasn't that bad," said Ron. "He was a Gryffindor at least. Who knows who she'll find next. Maybe..." He trailed off, looking at Harry.

Harry looked pointedly at the stairs to the girls' dormitories, and ignored his friend. A few minutes later, Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs. When she saw her friends she rushed down them. "Harry!" she said, sounding surprised to see them both standing there. "Where---!" she began, but Harry cut her off.

"I'll explain at breakfast. I'm starving, so's Ron. Let's go," he told her. The three of them made their way through the growing crowd of students, out of the common room, and through the corridors. In the Great Hall they grabbed three seats right next to each other. Ron was craning his head about, trying to watch Ginny. She was sitting with a few of her girl friends, talking happily back and forth. No sign of a boy nearby.

"So, Harry," said Ron, turning back, "spill it. What happened last night?"

"What did you two do?" Harry asked keenly, trying to put of the inevitable a little bit longer.

"We stayed up for ages," Hermione said. "We were the last people up for hours."

"Oh," said Harry. He tried hard to sound embarrassed. He didn't want to tell them anything that had gone on, but he didn't want them upset either. "I just got caught up with something in the library," he said vaguely, "and then later...I was thinking."

"What about?" Ron asked, not very tactfully. A bit of porridge slipped out of his mouth.

"A bit about Sirius. And a bit about the end of last year. And I ended up falling asleep for a while," said Harry, looking at his plate. He hoped if they couldn't see his eyes, they wouldn't be able to tell as much of his lie.

"Oh," said Ron hollowly. Hermione looked over at him, but turned back to her breakfast next second. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"It's finally Friday," Harry said, trying to get the conversation going again.

"Yeah, luckily," said Ron.

"And no Quidditch to take up our important homework time," said Harry jokingly.

"Slytherin versus Hufflepuff," Ron said, stuffing his mouth with some toast. "Who do you reckon's gonna win?"

The conversation degraded to Quidditch talk to Hermione's dismay. The whole school was buzzing from the Friday atmosphere, and even the fact that Gryffindor sixth years had History of Magic with dusty old Binns couldn't dampen the group's spirits. After all they got to end the day out of doors with Care of Magical Creatures. The three left the hall in bright spirits.

Harry had mixed feelings about going to Care of Magical Creatures. He wanted to see Hagrid because they hadn't visited him in a while. But Malfoy would be in that class and last night's memories were too close for Harry to be certain what would happen when they met. On the walk down to Hagrid's hut, Harry very carefully kept his attention on Hermione and Ron. He didn't even notice when Malfoy and the others walked up. When Hagrid began the class, Harry paid close attention and did everything asked because it served two purposes. First of all, he could ignore the Slytherins. Secondly, it limited the things the Slytherins could say about Hagrid's lesson. When Seamus asked him to help lift a group of heavy buckets, he agreed, leaving Ron and Hermione free to talk with Hagrid. He could feel their eyes on his back as he bent down, then straightened up again.

"Hey Harry," Seamus said. He was looking behind them. "I think they're talking about you."

"Yeah," said Harry, a bit chagrinned.

"What happened?" They dumped out the contents of the buckets.

"I got back late last night, and they've catalogued with things that prove I'm losing it," he said half sarcastically.

"Ah," said Seamus wisely as they set the empty buckets down. "Good luck, mate." He slapped Harry on the back, then went off to join Dean.

Harry walked slowly back to his friends, wiping his hands on his robes, giving them a chance to wrap up their conversation. On accident he looked over at the Slytherins. Pansy said something behind her hand and most of them laughed. Malfoy smirked. But Harry, still looking at them as he walked past, caught the quickest wink he'd ever seen from Draco. He wanted to grin back, and laugh along with them to convince them that Harry Potter had finally gone off his rocker, and to tell Draco he got the joke. But he bit his cheek, looked away and walked on, with a private joke for himself.

Hagrid, Ron and Hermione stood waiting for him. "How you been, Harry?" Hagrid asked him.

"I'm fine," Harry said brightly. He watched the three of them. It was obvious they had been talking about them. It was rather comic to see the three of them try to hide it.

"Tha-that's good, that is," said Hagrid. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, but the eyes under his bushy eyebrows studied Harry as carefully as Harry had studied him. "No Qudditch this weekend. That'll give you more time to catch up on your studies. Good thing too, 'cause I've got homework for you all." The entire class groaned.

Later, on the way back to castle, Harry's mind was preoccupied. He was thinking of Draco and Draco's wink. The front part of his hair on the right side of his forehead had fallen forward across his face. The November breeze had picked it up, and had been playing with it back and forth. The rest of it had been pushed back from his face. It was getting long, Harry observed from his memories. If it was brushed forward it would completely cover Draco's blue hazel eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by a jab in the ribs. His head jerked up, and he looked at Ron, who had poked him. "What?" he asked.

"I asked you how your bruises were, and you didn't answer," Hermione said.

"We couldn't get your attention, mate," said Ron.

"Sorry, I was thinking," Harry said.

"What about?" Hermione asked shrewdly. "I know it wasn't about Sirius; you didn't have that look on your face."

"What look did I have?" Harry asked.

"Huh?" said Hermione.

"I'm just curious," Harry said. "What look did I have?"

"Oh, well. Distant, like you were thinking about something that wasn't happening here, or that you couldn't do here. You sort of looked like you were serious, and considering something, but hopeful too. It doesn't really have a name, I guess. When you think about Sirius, you go all distant, too, and solemn, but sad too. You didn't seem sad," Hermione finished.

"Oh," said Harry. "Anyhow, to get back to your question, my bruises are fine. I can't feel them at all. Or the other stuff."

"Madame Pomfrey does know her stuff," Ron said. Harry nodded but smiled to himself.

Inside the Great Hall, supper was just beginning. They found seats together, and Ginny decided to sit along with them. Harry ended up next to her while Ron and Hermione were on the other side of the table.

At one point when Ron was distracted with food, Ginny turned to Harry. "Has Ron been watching me lately?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've noticed him watching me more. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being paranoid."

"Well, he has sort of," Harry said. "I think it's because you broke up with Dean."

"Of course," said Ginny. She rolled her eyes. "You know Harry, some people are so lucky. I love my brothers, but having six overprotective brothers looking it out for me, and paying attention to me, can be so annoying. It was better when Fred and George were here because they aren't as bad as the others, but they looked after me too. Ron's as bad as the older ones, and he's here all the time. I think he tries to make up for being the second youngest by looking out for me all the time."

"Ron's kind of a worry-wart anyway," Harry said lowly, glancing across the table to see that Ron wasn't listening.

Ginny giggled. "I know. And it's nice to know he cares about me. But that doesn't mean I want him to come and try to beat up someone I really like just because I'm dating them!" she said, laughing some more.

"Yeah, you're right," Harry said. "And it's annoying how he tries to get us together."

"Yeah," said Ginny dryly. "He didn't even care while I had a crush on you, but now that I'm dating, he's obsessed with the idea of us being together. You're probably the only boyfriend I could ever have that wouldn't have to worry about being killed by him."

Harry looked closer at her. "Why did you break up with Dean, anyway," he wanted to know.

Ginny looked at her plate with a keen considering look. "I can't really tell you," she said. "I promised I wouldn't. But there was a reason that meant the relationship would never work, and so we broke up. We're still good friends and we're fine with that. In fact," she said, with a sly smile, "I think we both found a good confidant."

"Hmm," said Harry, quirking his eyebrows. "Good for you."

Ron looked at them. "How's dinner?" he asked.

"Fine," said Harry, cheekily. "How is it on that side of the table?"

Ron's ears turned red. He mumbled something and turned to Hermione. "Still trying to get us together," Ginny whispered with a smile.

"Always," Harry whispered back. He looked up and out of the blue his gaze caught Draco's. They looked at one another, then broke off. Harry glanced at Ginny to see if she had noticed, but she was busy shuffling platters. Hermione and Ron were still engaged in conversation. No one had noticed. At least now he knew how he could begin his weekend.

When the meal let out, Harry allowed himself to be separated from his friends by the crowd of students. He slowly made his way up back staircases, shedding students, until the third floor where he finally was alone. He made sure of it, then climbed the last flight, and made his way to the unvisited corridor. He wound his way around the corners, his feet picking up speed as they went. Finally he saw the window seat in front of him. Draco stood leaning against the edge of the window, his bag hanging from his shoulder.

"I can't stay long," said Draco quickly as Harry walked up.

"That's all right," Harry said. "I probably shouldn't either."

"I saw you talking with Ginny Weasley at dinner. You seemed pretty close." That didn't sound very friendly Harry thought.

"She's a good friend. And we had a bit to talk about," Harry explained rather lamely.

"It just rankles a bit," said Draco. "It looked like a very involved conversation. She can talk with you like that. And I can't."

"It was just talk," Harry said. They stood looking at each, and Harry knew what he should say.

"I'm sorry," he said, "about this morning. I just had to get back on my own; I don't know why. I didn't mean for it to come out that badly."

"It's all right," said Draco. "I think I understand. It was a bit overwhelming for me too." He smiled. Harry saw the shine in his eyes.

He stepped forward. That bit off hair had fallen forward again. He picked it up in his fingers without touching Draco's skin. He pushed it back, and ran his fingers through the rest. He lifted a piece lightly and wrapped it loosely about his finger. He tilted it back and forth, watching the light play with it. Then he laughed a little.

"What?" Draco asked, a little bemused at this strange behavior.

"It's just barely dark out," Harry said, watching the window. Draco turned Harry's face toward him with a finger.

"Only you," he said, straightening up, and dropping his bag, "would think about something like that at a time like this." He wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him in close. Harry dropped his hair, and slipped his arms around Draco's shoulders. Draco kissed him. Kissed him soft and warm, stroked a hand up and down his back. Then pulled back just as Harry was beginning to loose his senses. Draco looked into his green shining eyes. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. I'm expected in the dungeons." His eyes were sad, sorry, Harry noted.

"It's fine. This is enough," said Harry. Then he smiled, and his crinkled up eyes sparkled. "For now," he whispered in Draco's face. Draco smiled.

Draco blew him a kiss as he picked up his bag, and began to walk away. "Later love," he called back to Harry. Then he was gone.

Harry took his place leaning against the wall. There was on a smile on his face too. All this was exactly what he wanted. He was loving this year at Hogwarts even more than the others. It seemed so strange that something impossible that he never would have thought of before could make him happy now. But that was life, he supposed.

He remembered his Gryffindor friends waiting for him in the common room, and pushed off from the wall. He strolled along the corridor in high spirits, and reached the tower before he knew it. He gave the password and ducked inside. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were seated around a table on the far side of the room. There was a seat left for Harry. As he walked over to it Ginny shot him an inquisitive look. Harry shrugged and sat down.

"Harry, what took you so long?" Ron asked sparing a look from the new chess game with his sister.

Harry shrugged again. "Took the long way," was all he said. He sat with his friends and watched Ginny almost beat Ron as the time passed away. Then he took a turn against Ron himself and suffered the same fate. The evening passed, and that night Harry went to his own bed which greatly relieved Ron and Hermione.